• Cam Newton, the NFL's consensus rookie of the year (and, according to Yahoo! Sports, the second-most valuable player in the entire league) is taking his final-round matchup with Calvin Johnson for the Madden NFL 13 cover very seriously. In this seven minute video (above), he calls out his rival, challenging him to a game of Madden 12, to be live-streamed.

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That's well and good, but the real takeaway here is Newton is also going anytime-anywhere with all of sports video gaming. He provides an email address, to field challenges from the public at large. Just provide your own Gamertag or PSN ID (Newton's on both services), your full name and phone number.

It's extremely smart fan service, and definitely gives a nod to the Carolina Panthers quarterback in the eyes of average voters, the ones who will determine the cover's outcome. As for Johnson, my favorite for the cover, all I can say is, ball's in the air for you, Megatron.

• FIFA 12's UEFA Euro 2012 expansion will introduce something called "Expedition" mode, which from the likes of this video sounds like a fantasy team experience involving getting your customized national team into the tournament. Beating a team three times means you can pick one of their players for your own side. There's also some concepts involving road-building and road-destruction that I think are best left to the video to explain.